Alberta Liberal MLA David Swann exposes wasteful mismanagement in EMS

Liberal MLA Dr. David Swann has revealed new information about wasteful mismanagement in EMS.

“A FOIP obtained by the Alberta Liberals shows that Alberta’s paramedics worked 135,000 hours of overtime in 2016. That equates to almost $10 million in extra wage costs.”

“The AHS and NDP Government need to hire more paramedics to reduce this unnecessary expense.” Swann told reporters today.

Swann says other systemic issues include EMS services not keeping pace with the needs of Albertans.

“AHS statistics show EMS events are up almost 19% over 5 years but there has only been a 2.9% increase in new ambulances and 3.4% increase in new full-time equivalent paramedics. Additionally, there were more than 63,000 extra EMS calls over the past 5 years. EMS is stretched to the limits trying to handle the needs of over 500,000 new Albertans.”

“The latest AHS data also indicates EMS staff wait a median time of nearly 1 hour when transferring a patient in ER to the attending nurses – equivalent to just over $20 million dollars a year in lost time.”